Three New Ways to Look at THANKS…GIVING!
3 New Ways to Look at THANKS…GIVING!
Are you tired of spending hours cooking Thanksgiving dinner, then stuffing yourself with lots of rich food, watching football or a movie, collapsing on the bed for a nap to prepare you for hitting the malls in the early morning to look for holiday shopping bargains? Are you tired of waking up the next morning feeling sick and exhausted, and full of regrets? Let us together take a closer look at the holiday of Thanksgiving and how we can truly give the gift of thanks and gratitude to others, and to ourselves!
What Are We Truly Thankful For?
The true thanksgiving is to be totally thankful for the unique intelligence of the body. This is something we most often overlook.
Isn’t it a miracle that since last Thanksgiving so many of the cells of our bodies are renewed? Yet, how many of us are aware of this wondrous gift of newness and growth from the Universe, let alone are filled with gratitude for it?
Why are we so unconscious of the unique intelligence of our bodies? Maybe it is question of felt need. When we deeply feel the need for the practices to keep our body healthy, we will do the practices without ever forgetting them, just as we don’t forget to eat and take rest.
Here is a good starting place to set the instrument of our body right. The more we study the gifts of the great Sages of the East we realize most of our physical and emotional problems can be set right through proper breathing practices. There is nothing more to it. We just need to be more aware of abdominal breathing. If we give attention to correcting our shallow breathing and blocked channels in the body through deep abdominal breathing, we all can live happily and make others happy.
Practice: Do this the last thing at night before you fall asleep and first thing in the morning before you start the day, with gratitude. Relax your body and your mind by taking natural regular breaths from the abdomen for a while. Then just take the torch of your mind to any areas where you feel any difficulty, light that area with the light of your graceful awareness and then VISUALIZE that the divine grace is healing that pain and the affliction. Feel you are now free, and the disease, the pain, or the blocked energy is now released and healed. Scan your body, watch your mind, ride the waves of your breath and gradually move into the silent sanctum of your heart where your Beloved waits for you!
Now doesn’t that feel better than being stuffed with lots of rich foods and spending hours trying to find the perfect gift?
Remember, No Waste, No Want
We have all heard the saying: No waste, no want. Whether our food is offered to God or not, if we visualize what’s happening with the rest of the world we’ll be able to see millions of children dying of hunger and malnutrition, even in America. We can contribute towards their welfare, but we cannot singlehandedly solve the problems of world hunger. We can all pledge to take only as much food on our plates that we should be able to consume comfortably without going into excess. All food is the offering of the Divine, and our body is built of food. When many in the world die of hunger, should we not be more and more determined to never waste and honor only our true needs?
Practice: Make sure when you go to restaurants and have good times with your friends, order smaller portions so that you don’t leave anything on the plate. When you are at home, only buy and prepare food that you and your family will eat, not too many things that you cannot consume. That way you will save not only food but some money, even if you can save couple of dollars, save it and you will see at the end of the month you have a good amount to feed those who are hungry. That is a simple way to express your gratitude to God for the abundance He has given to you. The Universal energy will acknowledge this kind gesture of yours with blessings. You will attract all happiness to your life.
We Are All Co-Travelers in the Path of Light
Let us all seek ways to make our life meaningful by converting each day of our life into a holy Thanks Giving Day. The best way to do this is to do something for someone who is suffering. We are all wanted in any temple of service, whether to the underprivileged children of God, or our workplace, or family. Wherever we are called to give, there is virtually no difference at all. Love begets love, respect begets respect, and a life of service begets the best of blessings from God!
Practice: Make sure your day begins with your heart surging in positive emotions of the infinite gifts of the universe in sheer joy of the beauty that is life. You add beauty to life. Life is neutral. It is you who creates the life of your own design, and waking up from the sleep state is a wonderful time to program your brain. The most powerful gift from the world of science is the research finding that you alone can restructure, reprogram, redesign your brain to be the perfect instrument to usher in the a natural state of being soulfully joyful. We are born to be happy and we are born to emanate the vibrations of positive light and love to all species of life, adding beauty to Mother Earth.
We are all sharing Mother Earth in our human form with only one purpose: to seek and be our true Self. On this Thanksgiving Day let our hearts be filled with continual thoughts of thankfulness to the Divine for granting us all the blessings we are continually showered with and for gifting us friends and family with whom we can communicate and share Love and Light. On this auspicious day of Gratitude, let us all chant and chant:
“May all be happy. May all be healthy. May we see the Divine in each other. May there be no afflictions and pain in this world.” And say with love and gratitude ~~ “Thank you, Thank you and Thank you, for God loves us as we are!”
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About the Author
Shuddhaanandaa Brahmachari (Kolkata, India), is a globally acclaimed motivational and spiritual teacher, author, social advocate and peace maker. Founder of Stress Management Academy, his Simple Art of Managing Stress and Course in Mindfulness are known worldwide, inspiring corporate leadership, students and all seekers of peace and happiness to be the leaders of tomorrow.
Author of the internationally acclaimed My Mind, My Best Friend Shuddhaanandaa was the recipient of the Man of Peace Award from the World Organization for Peace in Mexico, 2012. He is recognized as a visionary social advocate for his development of groundbreaking programs that serve thousands of poverty-stricken individuals in slums of Calcutta, India and remote villages of West Bengal. He founded Lokenath Divine Life Mission in 1985. Please read his books My MInd, My Best Friend: 30 Mindful Practices for a Peaceful and Happy Life, (Spanish, Mi mente, mi mejor amistad), Cleaning the Mirror of Mind: Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Life and The Incredible Life of a Himalayan Yogi, all available on Amazon Kindle.
For more information visit http://www.courseinmindfulness.com/
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